This is my first trip report, so bear with me.
Also, please allow some time for pics and vids to load.

I booked a flight for my mom and I to go up to the New Jersey area to see some relatives. Of course, my mom’s not interested in what airlines or aircraft we're on, just the cost of the flight. So I booked the cheapest one - a connection in CVG on the way there and a connection in CLE on the way back.

We drove the 50 minute drive to GSP (it was cheaper than AVL, which is a 10 minute drive) and got there with just a little time to spare. Went through check in and security very quickly then found the gate, which displayed that we were going to LGA until we actually started boarding. Then they changed it to say CVG. It had the new Delta logo on it, but it looked really bad. Colors didn’t even match:

Picture of the “A” Concourse at GSP, since most of you probably haven’t been there:

While waiting for our plane to come in, I watched the drama of an LGA flight that had been delayed four hours due to a ground stop. Lots of very angry passengers. A few minutes later, our plane pulled in. I was incredibly excited, because it had no markings! N281SK is the only aircraft in Chautauqua’s fleet with no markings, and I felt very special to be able to ride in it. The aircraft arriving at the gate:

When I boarded the aircraft, I could tell that it was definitely one of the oldest ERJs in the fleet, as later confirmed by the captain. It didn’t have the new, leather DL seats, but rather old leather seats with very thin cushions. I found my seat, which was an exit row window. I settled into seat 12C. Here was the view from my seat:

I had called up 24 hours in advance to reserve the extra leg room. What I didn’t know was that when seated in the exit row, you have to lean forward to look out the window. I could already feel my neck getting a cramp.

We had what seemed like a very fast taxi out to runway 22, passed by some relatively interesting airplanes on the ground, and then took off into the South Carolina sky, with a nice view of the sun setting over the Appalachian Mountains. You can hear some guys talking about a cancelled flight in the background:

The captain came back on the PA and said that there was some fairly bad weather ahead, but said he’d found a “good looking hole to squeeze through”. Apparently that hole wasn’t as good as he’d thought, because we encountered quite a bit of turbulence. Once clear of the turbulence, the F/A passed out water bottles. And that was it. No snacks or other drink choices. Is that some kind of DL policy, not to serve snacks or drinks on sub-hour flights? Anyway, here was our pitiful in-flight refreshment:

We had a period of approximately six minutes where the fasten seat belt sign was turned off, and then we were on our initial descent. It was obvious that we were beginning our descent, because the plane just kind of started taking a plunge. Pretty soon the captain told us to stow away all portable electronics. Of course, I kept my camera out and got a nice video of the relatively smooth landing at CVG:

Flying over some river on approach to CVG:

Unknown to me, my mom had told the F/A at some point during the flight that I wanted to be a pilot, so the F/A came by after landing and said the flight crew would love for me to come up. Why not? So after everyone else deplaned, I made my way up the isle and onto the flight deck. I like the Embraers’ glass displays. Very nice. The FO had gotten up, so I sat in his seat and the captain took a picture of me (which I will refrain from posting here).

After I’d said goodbye to the guys and was making my way down the air stairs, the captain called me back and asked if I’d like to shut down the airplane. Are you serious?!? So I went back up the stairs and, under the captain’s instructions, shut off all the lights, avionics, APU, and battery switches, making the screens go blank. How cool is that? Thanks so much to the captain for such a great experience. The flight deck:

Then I went inside the airport and joined up with my mom. We had come into gate A16 at CVG. I ended up having quite a bit of time to find out how nice most of CVG is. I really like the B Concourse and its big open area in the middle. The food court isn’t bad, either. And the moving walkways make traveling around the gigantic Concourse B quick and efficient.

Concourse C is a different story. Wow, what a mess. First of all, you have to get there by bus. Then, you walk in, and it’s cramped. You go to try to find your gate, and all you can see are doorways with big letters on them. Why not just put the gate number on them? Furthermore, there were no windows whatsoever! And if that’s not enough, there was a serious lack of seats for the myriad of flights departing through C. You can fit a lot of RJs around a circular building, and that’s exactly what they did. I guess it’s pretty efficient, but as far as passenger comfort, Concourse C is not the way to go. So that kind of ruined the CVG experience for me right there.

Severe overcrowding in Concourse C - this is one of four of these small areas. Notice that not one of these people look happy. I never was able to find a seat:

Now here’s where the trouble starts. About 10 minutes prior to boarding, the LCD screen, without notice, raises our departure time from 7:40 pm to 8:10 pm. About a minute later, a Customer Service Agent comes on the PA and announces that our flight to Philadelphia has been delayed to “weather on the flight path”. Whatever that’s supposed to mean.

OK, so a half hour delay. Fairly typical, and not too bad. When 8:00 passed and we weren’t boarding, I knew something was up. They then rose the departure time from 8:10 to 9:30. There were numerous groans from the passengers sitting around me. I, personally, didn’t mind. It meant I got to spend more time at the airport! The reason for the big delay was because of a ground stop at PHL, due to vicious storms attacking the east coast. So since I had some time on my hands, I figured I’d head back over to Concourse B and get a bite to eat. I got on the bus and was able to do a little spotting along the way:

A Pace Airlines 737-300, charter. It was a nice sight among the plethora of DL planes:

Can you say “DELTA!”:

Finally, something other than Comair. Chautauqua ERJ-145LR:

So I got off the bus and walked back to the food court. I hit up the Chick-Fil-A and sat by the window to watch an MD-88 depart. Another thing about CVG is that it’s infested with Regional Jets. There were hardly any mainline aircraft at all in the entire airport. Evidence of the RJ invasion:

Above - these brown things turn one Jetway into two RJ gates. Almost the entire “A” concourse has been invaded by these things.

Here’s a view of a large portion of the concourse:

The amount of RJs at CVG is just ridiculous. It’s like the plague! Anyway, I figured I’d head back over to Concourse C to catch my 9:30 flight. So I boarded the bus and rode back over.

The sun setting over Concourse C:

Another weird thing about CVG is that everything closes down at exactly 9 pm. Shops, restaurants, the works. I thought that was quite strange, because there were still hundreds of people waiting for flights. At about 9:10 they began boarding our CRJ-700. I’d never been on a CR7, so I was looking forward to it. We walked down the hallway to our plane and boarded via airstairs.

Sorry, no picture of this aircraft, it was too dark to see the reg. I found my seat, seat 16D, and sat down. Wow, I loved that new leather on the seat. Incredibly comfortable! Big upgrade from the Chautauqua flight. So we sat down, the F/A closed the door and we sat. And we sat. After about half an hour of sitting in the closed-door CRJ, one of the flight attendants came around and asked everyone what their last names were and seemed to be crossing them off a list.

After she was done, we sat for another 20 minutes. Then, the captain come on the PA and introduced himself. Then he said, in the most apologetic tone I’ve ever heard: “Well folks, the Philadelphia Air Traffic Control just what we like to call ‘slammed the door on our departure’ due to storms in the Northeast. We’re still waiting verification that this is true, and we still may be able to get clearance to depart. But, if they don’t call us back soon with that clearance, there’s another problem. The FAA only allows us 14 hour shifts per day, and we’re going to be over the legal limit to fly. Hang tight, we’re just trying to get all of this confirmed by the controllers”.

Wow. So it really looked as if we weren’t going to get out that night. Conversation among the passengers and flight attendants ensued. One passenger asked the flight attendant this: “So, what is the window of your shift time running out and we being able to depart?” Her answer: “Let’s just say it’s getting real close.”

After another 15 minutes of sitting in the CRJ, the captain came on again and reported that their flight had been cancelled. Unbelievable. We board the CRJ, sit on it for over an hour, and the flight gets cancelled. Does this really happen often? They opened up the door again and we deplaned. All four of the crew were standing at the bottom of the stairs apologizing to every passenger. I told the captain “Great flight. Landing was so smooth I didn’t even feel it.” He got a kick out of that.

When we got back inside Concourse C, a CSA (Customer Service Agent) directed us to a room with an incredibly long line pouring out of it. Apparently this was the rebooking line. Fabulous. I got a video of the line, which was just incredible:

When my mom and I finally got up to a CSA, we were told that there were no PHL flights tomorrow, whatsoever. There were even no flights with connections. And this wasn’t just DL and DL codeshare flights either, our CSA checked flights on all airlines. No connections, no way to get to PHL tomorrow, we were told. Our alternative airports were ACY, EWR, LGA, and JFK. Those would be the closest to our destination other than PHL. No flights to any of those, either. The only flight that would get us anywhere near where we needed to go was BWI. A 5:00 pm flight to Baltimore. Great. A three hour drive to our destination compared to a half hour drive. Well, since it seemed to be the only way to go, we booked that flight.

Of course, since there were no more flights that night, we got to spend the night in Cincinnati. I was expecting to get a hotel room completely paid for by Delta. But no, since the cancellation was due to weather and it wasn’t Delta’s fault, DL wouldn’t pay for our hotel room. But they did give it to us for a “distressed rate”, which pretty much equate to $20 off.

It was a long night, but eventually we got to sleep in a bed at a Residence Inn that was five minutes from the airport. And of course we didn’t have our baggage.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed back to the room. After giving Delta reservations a call to make sure no more seats had opened up, we decided to go back to CVG. There was nothing better to do. We couldn’t get into the city, we couldn’t do anything, really.

We caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport and were dropped off at the DL departures place. We went over to the check in desk and stood in a short line.

The Delta check-in counters (with new branding - they look quite nice!) at CVG that I never should have seen:

The lady at our counter was extremely nice, and much to our surprise, two seats on a 4:50 CVG-PHL flight had just opened up! It’s a good thing we came to the airport early. After checking in I hit up the Starbucks in another big middle area that was before security. I watched some RJs while sipping on an excellent frappuccino.

Nice place:

After spending a few minutes there, and enjoying the fact that we actually were going to be able to fly into PHL, we went down to security to get screened. Screening didn’t take long and soon we were on the way to check on our gate, C34. Ugh, Concourse C again. Whatever.

Since we had just gotten our tickets to Flight 5070, I didn’t know what type of CRJ I’d be on to PHL. Because I’m an A.netter and I wanted to know, I figured I’d ask one of the CSAs. I went up to an older, male one that didn’t appear to be doing anything. I went up to him, told him my flight number and asked what type of aircraft I’d be on. He gave me the weirdest look anyone’s ever given me and said “Why is that important?” While he continued to look at me, I told him that I was just curious. I wasn’t about to explain my incredible obsession with commercial aviation and addiction to a website called ‘Airliners.net’. Eventually I got it out of him - another CRJ-700. But I mean, come on. I’m still a kid, for Christ’s sake. I’m not going to blow up the freaking plane.

Since we had gotten to the airport so early, I had about 4 hours to waste. At the very end of Concourse B, there are some very large windows that look over the active runway in which they were landing on (sorry, not sure what runway it is though). So I took a few pictures of landing/taxiing aircraft through the window. I didn’t see one aircraft that wasn’t Delta. Incredible. Here are a few pictures:

ERJ-135 taxiing. Isn’t it cute?!?! I just think they’re adorable:

One of the hundreds of CRJ-200s that are based here:

CRJ-700:

A 767-300 coming in, one of the few mainline aircraft:

An MD-88 came into the gate right next to me, so I shot a few of it:

As I continued to watch the regional pilots land their RJs and judge their landings (there were some pretty bad ones!), the time passed. Eventually, it was time to head over to Concourse C. But before I started walking, I snapped a pic of one of the new gate desks. They really look good, IMO:

I boarded the bus to Concourse C, and look what I found along the way - a US Airways Express B1900 with no landing gear!!

It must have been an optical illusion, because the engines were on and no fire trucks were in the vicinity.

Finally, we were boarding our flight to PHL. Since we were the very last to get tickets, we got the bulkhead seats. Great, I love watching the F/As do their work. After I found my seat, the first officer invited me to come up front to do some of the pre-flight checklist things. I couldn’t believe it - my mother must have said something again. The FO was the nicest pilot I’ve ever met, a young guy who went through Delta Connection Academy; the captain was a little more strict. The FO and I did weights and balances together, programmed the MFD for the flight to PHL, and did a few other checklist items. I just thought that was so awesome that he took the time to do those things with me. Right when we were about to push, he sent me back to my seat.

Our plane while we were boarding:

Flight deck of the CRJ-700. I was impressed:

While making the before-flight announcements, the FO said “Welcome aboard our Elite members and a special welcome to our future airline captain flying with us today.” That just made my day. The flight was extremely smooth the entire way, almost no turbulence whatsoever. The snack was a bit better than the last one (which didn’t have a snack). I chose the Biscoff cookies and Ginger-Ale, as usual. On approach, we flew over the numerous factories, oil rigs, and waterways of the PHL area. I always love that approach. Lots of fun. Soon, we made a very smooth touchdown on the runway. We rolled out, then turned off onto the taxiway. Sorry, I was too tired to take a video on this one.

We had to wait on the taxiway for a while, and the FO made a sly remark about it being “typical of PHL”. After we parked, the first officer invited me back up to the flight deck and let me sit in his seat. Then, unbelievably, he let me call up PHL operations and tell them our flight times. That was just the icing on the cake, right there. I was feeling soooo special! He told me exactly what to say, and I said it. I’ve had experience dealing with ATC on the VatSim network through Microsoft Flight Simulator, but I’d never actually gotten to radio for real. We talked for a minute or two about the job and how he got into it, then I said goodbye and met up with my mom.

We caught the bus to Budget Car Rentals and stood in line for about an hour. We got our car, a Saturn Vue, which neither of us liked, then started our drive to New Jersey, hoping that there wouldn’t be any further trouble during the trip.

To everyone who has read this all the way through - Thank You! It took me hours to write this and put everything together. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it.

Look for Part 2 of this trip - CO Express with a connection in CLE. That is, if I ever get around to writing it.

Comments, questions, and suggestions are more than welcome.

"We break, We bend, With hand in hand, When hope is gone, Just hang on." -Guster

I LOVE the Cincinnati Airport. As long as I don't have to connect through Concourse C...and speaking of which, the guy in that photo in the blue shirt -- you should have gone up to him, he just LOOKS like he has a story or two to tell you about his experience with Delta.

Otherwise Cincinnati itself isn't bad, too bad you and your mom couldn't have seen the town for a bit.

if assumptions could fly, airliners.net would be the world's busiest airport

Quoting STLGph (Reply 1):Otherwise Cincinnati itself isn't bad, too bad you and your mom couldn't have seen the town for a bit.

I really enjoy my trips to Cincinnati. I love going to the top of Mt. Echo Park and taking in the views of the city and the river below. Winston Churchill called Cincinnati "America's most beautiful inland city", and I tend to agree. After I graduate, I am definately looking at the Cincy as one of my top places to get a job.

It is a shame its so damn expensive to fly there. When I went to Cincy last week, I flew SX to CMH and rented a car.

"If the facts do not conform to the theory, they will have to be disposed of"

Looks like Delta failed you at first, but after your experience on-board where you were allowed into the cockpit, you changed your opinions fast, Delta otherwise doesnt look like a great product, and its performance with regards to time seems horrible, atleast one would think they would give some vouchers for the inconvinenience. I sure would like to get a copy of the loadsheet and a talk with the pilots.

Quoting LAXspotter (Reply 6):Looks like Delta failed you at first, but after your experience on-board where you were allowed into the cockpit, you changed your opinions fast, Delta otherwise doesnt look like a great product, and its performance with regards to time seems horrible, atleast one would think they would give some vouchers for the inconvinenience.

Delta's still my airline of choice, and I understand that the cancellation was overall because of weather. So I'm not mad about that, but I was a little mad about them not giving out vouchers, though. And you've also got to realize that both of these flights were not run by Delta, but by their regional subsidiaries.

Quoting STLGph (Reply 1):As long as I don't have to connect through Concourse C...and speaking of which, the guy in that photo in the blue shirt -- you should have gone up to him, he just LOOKS like he has a story or two to tell you about his experience with Delta.

Yeah, I think I actually overheard him saying something about a business meeting and missing it.....

Quoting Widget1580 (Reply 7):Great TR! Definitely one of the best I have read in a while. Your pics were great as well. The -700 is a great plane.

Thanks! I really appreciate you saying that. It takes a while to put these things together.

"We break, We bend, With hand in hand, When hope is gone, Just hang on." -Guster

First of all i want to congratulate you to your first TR which was easy to read and very enjoyable.
Boy oh Boy are you lucky, to got invited to the cockpit twice on one trip!!! I think you should post a picture of yourself sitting in the pilots seat.
Bet, that within a few years you will be working in the Airline-industry!

I liked your pictures a lot and i have to admit that the new signage looks stunningly good. I know ,that i was among the
bashers against it when it got introduced.

Sorry for the inconvenience with DL, I hope that you and your Mother made it in time to see your Grandfather for the
last time.

Wow, awesome trip report! It was extremely detailed and fun to read. I have a hard time believing Delta that there was no seat on ANY AIRLINE from CVG-PHL/EWR/JFK/ACY/LGA for the entire next day. And this was even with connections! I know that there might have been a backlog of passengers to the Northeast due to weather, but that is just really hard to fathom.